Shadows
by Twilight Imperil
Summary: A year after the war with Nergal, Bern throws a celebratory ball for all the war's heroes. And for the first time since the war, Lyn and the tactician meet. This is a female tactician/Lyn pairing, if you don't like femslash don't read please.


The one year anniversary of the heroes' defeat of Nergal was fast approaching. Bern, of all places, was throwing a festive celebratory Heroes' Ball in their honor.**  
><strong> Inter-kingdom relations would never cease to amaze Lyn. **  
><strong> All the war heroes were to arrive at the Bern castle a week early. The castle was beautiful, decorated in ornate tapestries and the walls recently gilded with golden scenes of Bern's majesty. The echoes of war were faint, but Lyn remembered vividly how these halls had once rung with the clash of swords and the screams of the cut down. It left her unsettled, somehow, how it seemed her memories were the only ghost of the past haunting this place.

_ How quick the world moves on_, she thought.

She'd arrived two days ago, escorted by Kent and Sain, late. Bern had been expecting her the day before, but reluctance had slowed their journey.

_ (Kent had found her one night, lying on a grassy hill a stones throw from the inn they'd stopped at. She was staring up at the sky, but they were far enough into Bern that the lights of the town drowned out the stars._

"_Milady?" Kent stood there, unsure and yet an understanding suspicion lurking in his eyes._

"_Do you think we'll be able to see the stars at the castle, Kent?"_

_ His mouth pressed into a thin line and the doubt cleared from his face. He a respectful distance from her, and they watched the sky until it tinged with the rosy complexion of dawn. Even Sain joined them, not long after.)_

Almost as soon as she'd settled in the massive room reserved to her, flopping down in the bed and disgustingly realizing that it was incredibly comfortable, dammit, a tailor came in to take her measurements.

"For your ball gown, milady," he explained when she tried to shoo him away. He ended up leaving in a huff, empty handed.

The two days Lyn'd already spent in the castle weighed upon her like an anchor, dragging her down to the depths of a murky, oppressive ocean. It wasn't fair, she knew that. But old habits die hard, and all she could remember was the Bern of the war, and it clouded her visit.

The only place she could relax was in the gardens. They were beautiful, really - even the haunting war couldn't take that away. And even better, they were colossal, like everything else in Bern, and there was always a corner she could tuck herself into and not be found til she wanted to be.

That was where she was now, lying on a little wooden bridge and trailing her fingers in a decorative pond - a pretty little puddle. Colorful fish swam in lazy circles around it, occasionally coming up to nibble at her fingers before falling back into pattern. The sun burned, playing highlights across the water and stifling all the noise beyond the gardens to a dull echo.

"I thought I'd find you here," a familiar soft voice said.

A smile crossed Lyn's face and she peered up, shading her gaze from the sun. There, dressed in her usual green cloak despite the heat, stood her most trusted friend of the war, the tactician Haleigh.

"So you've finally decided to join us all," Lyn teased, sitting up and patting the spot next to her. "I'm surprised the officials stopped fawning over you long enough for you to come on a stroll to the gardens."

Haleigh hesitated a brief moment before sitting down, but it was long enough for Lyn to notice and frown at.

"Despite all the tactics up my sleeve, I had to resort to the lowest one - I snuck away," the younger girl admitted and Lyn grinned at the thought. "As always, it's a pleasure, Lady Lyndis. Or, I suppose it's Queen now, though Lady sounds better?"

"Nonsense," Lyn replied, waving away Haleigh's formal greetings. "Please, you're one of my dearest friends, don't resort to naming me by my titles. You know how I feel about them." She closed her eyes against the thoughts and insecurities that rose up at her. "And yes, it is Queen now, despite everything..."

Haleigh smiled her small lopsided smile that Lyn had grown fond of during the war. It was so rare that each one felt like a sort of treasure. "My congratulations, Lyndis. Despite everything."

"I could say the same to you. I hear you're being courted by every kingdom on the continent." Lyn felt her throat tighten at the last sentence, but she wasn't sure why. "They're calling you the best strategist of the land. You're finally getting the recognition you deserve."

Haleigh closed her clear blue eyes. Her face was thrown in shadow by her hood, unreadable. "Hmmm." She blew the syllable out with a sigh. "Did I really play that big a role in our victory? I advised behind the lines. That doesn't deserve recognition, especially not the kind I'm getting. I find it maddening..."

Lyn watched the younger girl, heart swelling with something she couldn't put a name to. "Don't be ridiculous. We couldn't have done it without you. Remember when I first found you on the plains? Every step since then I couldn't have made if it wasn't for you."

Haleigh looked away, down at the swirling fish in the pond. Her gaze was unfocused; if Lyn had asked what color the fish were, she would've replied - what fish?

They spent a few quiet moments like that, all the while Lyn itched to take off Haleigh's hood. She was sure that, just like the fish below, thoughts were swimming in the girl's head, but she couldn't see the girl's face to tell what they were. It made Lyn feel...powerless, and it wasn't a feeling she liked.

"I went back. To the plains," Haleigh added, seeing Lyn's questioning look. "I was set on traveling at first. I didn't want to go back, but... I couldn't stay away. It's changed so much, Lyndis. Or maybe it hasn't, maybe it's me that's different, I don't know. It feels different, to know you're not there somewhere in the meadows; to know you're stuck in the castle. The war's changed so much, hasn't it?" For her whole speech, the tactician stared down into the water, dipping the toe of her boots into it and watching the fish scatter.

Lyn felt heavy all of a sudden, like the world had fallen atop her chest. How she'd missed the plains of Sacae, how she'd dreamed of her childhood home the past year when she just couldn't take the prattling on of the nobles anymore. A thought had started haunting her recently - what if the war had never happened? What if she could've lived in Sacae her whole life, with Haleigh's help could she have restored the destroyed Lorca tribe, been chieftain over them instead of a queen, Haleigh her right hand ruling with her... Strange, Haleigh was always there, in the plains with her. It seemed natural, after all they'd been through, for them to stay together.**  
><strong> And here they were, meeting for the first time in a year.**  
><strong>** "**It's changed everything. May I ask you a question?"**  
><strong> Haleigh seemed surprised at Lyn's sudden turnabout of conversation, her eyes sparkling with a question. "Of course, Lady Lyndis."**  
><strong> Lyn let out an exasperated sigh. "Please, just Lyndis! I hate formalities - how would you like it if I called you Lady Haleigh?"**  
><strong> Haleigh looked confused, tilting her head to the side. "I'm not a lady."**  
><strong> Lyn felt frustration bubble in her. The girl was doing this on purpose. "Fine! What if I called you Tactician Haleigh all the time, then?"**  
><strong> The younger girl ducked her head. "Whatever you wish to call me, I will answer to."**  
><strong>** "**Ugh!" Lyn puffed out in annoyance. "I wish..." But the more she thought about it, the more she didn't know how to end that sentence. "Will you answer my question, at least?"**  
><strong> Haleigh waited, eyes trained on Lyn's face. Lyn stared back before finally blurting, "Why didn't you ever come to castle Caelin?" She mentally chided herself at how accusatory it sounded but couldn't bring herself to be ashamed.**  
><strong>** "**Lyn..." It was the name she'd called the older girl before the war with Nergal, back when they were traveling to Caelin and they'd stay up hours talking around a campfire, when Lyn would fight some lackluster bandits and Haleigh would follow like a shadow, both keeping each other safe. The fact that that was a memory, a time that had past, hit Lyn full force with hearing that one word, her name.**  
><strong>** "**It's just, we all missed you, you know? We all wondered, and nobody had seen you..."**  
><strong> Haleigh was silent a moment, letting Lyn have time to calm down. After a while, she stood up. "I ought to go back to the castle. I've evaded those officials and the king too long as it is."**  
><strong>** "**I'll walk you," Lyn said, also standing up, but Haleigh shook her head with a tight smile.**  
><strong>** "**That's all right. I came to tell you that Lords Eliwood and Hector are here. Hector was bellowing about the halls looking for you the last time I saw him, I'm surprised the ground isn't shaking with all the noise he's been making."**  
><strong> They stood there on the bridge, facing each other. In a few short steps, Lyn crushed the younger girl in a hug.**  
><strong>** "**Well, I'm happy to see you now, anyway," she mumbled into the other girl's flaxen hair. She smelled of the plains and it soothed Lyn.**  
><strong>After a pause, she felt the other girl's arms wrap around her, her head resting on Lyn's shoulder. "I'm happy, too."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm back to ! So this is probably gonna be a short three chapter story, maybe more depending on where it takes me. Cool beans.<br>****And as always, review!**


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